Jeanette+Jarrett

On October 11, 1926, Jeanette Jarrett, a 28-year-old Black woman, died from complications of a criminal abortion performed on her that day in Chicago.

A Black doctor, Roy Shell, was held by the coroner on October 29.

On November 1, he was indicted for felony murder.

Jeanette's abortion was typical of criminal abortions in that it was performed by a doctor.

Keep in mind that things that things we take for granted, like antibiotics and blood banks, were still in the future. For more about abortion in this era, see [|Abortion in the 1920s]. For more on pre-legalization abortion, see [|The Bad Old Days of Abortion] Source:


 * [|Homicide in Chicago Interactive]

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